Printer assembly with lateral and longitudinal self-alignment
AssigneeInovise Medical, Inc.
InventorSTEVEN A. MAHONEY
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A printer assembly with lateral and longitudinal self-alignment. The printer assembly has a frame, a door which swings open, a motor-driven platen disposed on the door, a print head movably disposed on the frame so as to engage the platen, and a spring coupled to the print head so as to produce both backward force to urge the print head against the platen when the door is closed and torque to rotate the print head upwardly when the door is opened. The frame is provided with a semi-cylindrical paper well and a generally triangular shape for ease of access to the paper well.
Claims14
A printer assembly, comprising:
- a frame, having a front, a back, a top, and two opposing sides;
- a top door attached at one end thereof to said frame proximate the back of said frame so as to swing open and closed;
- a cylindrical platen rotatably attached to and disposed proximate the opposing end of said door so that its elongate dimension runs from side to side of said door;
- an elongate print head disposed proximate the front of said frame so that its elongate dimension runs substantially from side to side of said frame;
- and
- a spring disposed proximate the front of and coupled to said frame and print head so as to urge said print head backwardly, said print head having a centrally disposed element for engaging said spring and said frame so as to provide a pivot axis permitting said print head to rotate upwardly and downwardly to disengage and engage said platen when said door is opened and closed, respectively.
A method for aligning a printer assembly having a frame including a front, a back, a top and a bottom, an elongate print head movably attached to the frame at the front thereof, a door pivotally attached at one end thereof to the frame at the back thereof, and a cylindrical platen rotatably attached to the door at an opposing end thereof, the elongate axis of the platen being substantially parallel to the elongate axis of the print head, so as to disengage and engage the print head and platen when the door is opened and closed, respectively, while providing substantially uniform force applied by the print head against the platen throughout the length of the print head when the door is closed, the method comprising:
- applying lateral force to the print head substantially at the lateral center thereof so as to urge the print head backwardly against the platen when the door is closed;
- applying torque to the print head so as to rotate the print head upwardly when the door is opened so as to disengage the platen from the print head;
- and
- rotating the print head downwardly when the door is closed by engaging the platen with the print head.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.